Bathtime
by Seasons-in-DL
Summary: "Bathtime" is based on Reiji's Maniac 04 chapter in the first HDB game. It starts just before the end of the chapter, and attempts to answer the question: what exactly would Reiji's "model bathing method" entail? Kinda smutty, definitely r18; trigger warnings for abuse, mental and physical cruelty, and Reiji being Reiji. (Dammit, Reiji.) Oneshot.
"You seem," said Reiji, "to be unskilled at washing your body."

Blushing a brilliant shade of crimson, Yui squirmed in her chair. Her small fists clutched more tightly at the hem of her top, futilely attempting to pull it down over just a little more of her body. Reiji had barged on into the bathroom without even knocking, startling her so much she hadn't even thought to grab a towel; she'd flung herself down onto the chair in an instinctive attempt to hide as much of her body as she could. It didn't feel like enough, not with Reiji peering down at her as if she were a specimen on a slide.

She cursed herself for running the shower during the day and waking him up. Even if he didn't exhibit anger like a normal person, he had ways of paying people out when they irked him. From the faint smile on his face, Yui had a feeling he wasn't going to content himself with her current humiliation.

He went on: "I shall show you an exemplary way to wash."

"What?" gasped Yui. He couldn't mean…

"I will polish your body thoroughly. Everywhere."

Apparently he did.

"Ehhh… I'll pass," she sputtered.

"Denied," he responded tersely.

Yui simply gaped up at him, hopelessly lost for words. Surely this must be another of his peculiar jokes? The man had, she knew, a strange and troubling sense of humour. It had amused him in the past to act as if he might do something painful or undesirable, only to turn aside at the last moment with a mocking laugh. Would this be like the moment in the kitchen, or the games room..? She'd tried to accustom herself to her new situation, tried to understand Reiji a little better; but he still terrified and confused her. Every meeting brought some new demand or strange, bewildering game. She never knew if the encounter would end with him merely mocking her and putting her down, or predating her – taking her blood. He could be kind, but that very kindness seemed designed as a foil for his cruelty: a sweet side dish to set off some bitter and bloody main course.

And the worst of it was, she'd come to crave his approval. It wasn't only a matter of survival; she'd started to derive a certain twisted joy from pleasing him, from the rare moments when he seemed happy with something she'd done. There was even some shadowy corner of her being that was coming to relish his punishments; to crave the new and poignant sensations he gave her. That made her current predicament all the more frightening.

"Polishing your body until the skin peels off is a nice experiment, too," Reiji continued. Evidently this was no joke; he was quite sincere.

"I-I don't want to…" Her voice sounded weak to her own ears. She wished she'd come up with a more robust refusal, but something about him just robbed her of any resolve.

"Well, shall we start?" he said, as if she hadn't spoken.

Yui's eyes filled with tears. Moments ago she'd been challenging him, telling him off for the way he'd walked in on her when he knew she might be naked. Now she was suddenly reminded of how frightening he could be. She thought of the terrible night when he'd caught her talking to Shuu and had actually whipped her for it. She'd still been sore from that whipping when he'd accosted her in the rose garden, when he'd first – when he –

 _Learn to fear me, more and more…_

"N-no…" was all she could manage. Just being looked at by Reiji was bad enough, the way his gaze seemed to scour her; but to be washed – touched – by those hands..!

"Stand up," he told her calmly. Again, she shook her head.

"Miss Komori. On your feet."

A sudden access of panic gripped her. "You – you can't do this!" she told him, frantic now.

The garnet eyes narrowed in a frown. "'Can't'? I _can't?_ And who are you to tell me what I can and can't do?"

"It – it's improper!" she hazarded. Propriety was one of the few things the man valued, after all. In his cold heart, it seemed to take the place of right and wrong.

"'Improper'? My dear girl, what could be more proper than ensuring that you're maintaining your personal hygiene correctly? What could be more proper than cleaning and polishing my own possession?"

The last word undid her. "Please…" she whispered. She looked down at her feet, one twisted on top of the other as they were trying, independently, to hide them from him. The tiled floor of the bathroom blurred through her tears. His possession. _His._ To think she'd chosen this creature as her owner! But at the time his brothers had seemed so much worse: Ayato's demanding arrogance, Subaru's wildness, Laito's proudly-vaunted lechery… Beside such men, he'd appeared so composed, so reserved. She would never have thought him capable of this.

"Miss Komori, I will not ask you again. Stand. Up."

Crying in earnest now, she got to her feet.

"Take off your shirt. _Now,_ please."

She pulled the garment awkwardly over her head, and stood clutching it to her chest. His gloved hand plucked it away from her; he folded it and laid it on the chair where she'd been sitting. Yui held her arms against her chest and tried to bite back her sobs.

"You have a figure like a twelve-year old boy," he said. "As I have told you, such a body can make me feel nothing. If I feel nothing, you have no reason to be embarrassed, do you? But I will humour you; you may keep your underthings on. For now. Get into the bath."

Nodding miserably, the girl climbed in. The water was less than an inch deep and not even lukewarm. She immediately began to shiver. At least she was wearing her sensible navy-blue school panties and a bra to match; the dark colour wouldn't become transparent in the water. Reiji stepped over to the cupboard below the sink, and took out a basket of items; she glimpsed a large sponge, body brushes, some bottles and a cake of gritty-looking soap. She curled up, her arms about her knees, trying to reveal as little of herself as she could. She screwed her eyes tightly shut.

"No," said Reiji as he turned back to her. "I want you to stand. You need to shower first."

She heard him pull out the plug and allow the water to drain away. She got to her feet again, head down, arms crossed. There was a sound – the unmistakable rustle of fabric moving against fabric, fabric against skin. She raised her head and risked opening her eyes a little, giving a small gasp to see that he'd shed his waistcoat and was now loosening his tie.

He met her glance before she could look away, and sighed theatrically. "Miss Komori, you have already put me to significant inconvenience by awakening me in the middle of the day and forcing me to educate you in elementary hygiene. I'm not about to ruin a perfectly good suit of clothes for you as well." He did not, she was relieved to see, take off his shirt; he only rolled back the sleeves. Finally he took off the single white glove he always wore, tugging the fingers loose with his teeth before slipping it from his hand and laying it aside.

"And now we can begin," he told her softly, with one of those maddening smirks of his. Her back connected with the tiles as she attempted to shuffle away from him.

He stood at the foot of the bath, taking the shower head in one hand and her chin in the other. "Lift your head and put your arms by your sides. Go on."

Even though she was anticipating it, the shower's spray almost made her gasp; it was ice-cold, forcing a close-lipped scream from her. His response was to turn the pressure up, one hand pushing her head back so that the spray went into her face and up her nose. She coughed and gasped, struggling to regain her breath as he directed the cold spray over the rest of her body, the fierce droplets stinging her flesh.

"R-Reiji-san! Please!"

"This bothers you? Only this? But we've just begun."

He made her turn from side to side, lifting her arms to direct the icy water into the soft skin beneath; she began to cry again when she felt it hitting her throat, then the thin fabric covering her breasts. He seemed to linger over her belly and the small of her back; he even directed the spray between her legs, although he swiftly moved to her thighs and calves.

When he'd sprayed her feet and ankles she hoped he might be done, but Reiji simply reached across to the control for the temperature. Now the spray was scalding hot, making her shriek again as it hit her scalp. He directed it into her face once more, the hot water getting into her nose and mouth; she felt as though she was drowning. Would he kill her? He was forbidden murder, but what if he simply forgot that she was human?

"Reiji-san – can't – breathe – "

"My, my. What a scene you're making over a little bit of water." Again, the spray was directed over her body, working from head to feet. Blinking away the steam, she noticed that her skin was turning rosy pink. He switched the shower back to its previous icy coolth, and set the head back in its holder so he had both hands free. He took a long-handled brush from the rack and began to scrub at her skin, now sensitized from the shower's spray. The procedure was repeated, with the shower switched from hot to cold, at least half a dozen times. By the end of it, the squeak of the shower tap seemed like a blessed relief. Yui was sobbing openly. "Oh, don't make such a fuss. There's nothing so good for mortal circulation as a hot-and-cold shower. Perhaps it'll even give that limp hair of yours some body. In Scandinavian countries, they have the custom of taking a sauna and then running out to roll around in the snow, followed by a healthy switching with birch twigs."

 _"B-birch twigs?"_

"Alas, I don't have any to hand. A pity. If I were better rested, I might try to find a substitute… another time, perhaps. Now…"

"P-please, Reiji-san! Can't we stop?"

"Stop? Now?" He laughed lightly. "What a slovenly creature you are." He replaced the plug and began to fill the bath. "First, your hair," he told her. "You may sit down for this." He took a bottle of some clear liquid and began to run it over Yui's scalp. A pungent odour hit her nose.

"Reiji-san, that stinks! What is it?"

"Just vinegar, my dear, plain white vinegar. Those useless human preparations you put on your hair leave the most disgusting residue behind. Vinegar's the best thing in the world for taking it off."

Yui didn't quite believe him. The smell was distressing; why couldn't he have used lemon juice or something? She winced as some of the acidic liquid trickled into her eyes. Reiji's fingertips felt hard and cold as he rubbed the vinegar into her sore scalp. He took her hand and pressed something damp into it; a facecloth.

"Wipe your face," he told her. "I want your eyes open as much as possible. You won't learn anything if you don't watch." The bath filled quickly. Reiji took up a small item that she'd initially taken for soap, and dropped it into the bath. It floated.

"Pumice," he remarked. "We'll need it for the dry skin on your elbows, knees and heels."

"But I don't _have_ dry skin on my – "

"For the dead skin everywhere else, I have a very excellent soap." He took up the gritty-looking cake she'd seen earlier and began to rub it vigorously over her shoulders.

"Ow!"

"Really, your constant complaining is most tiresome. Have you never bathed yourself properly before?"

Yui gritted her teeth and allowed him to rub her down with the soap. To her relief, he seemed not to be making good on his original promise to clean her entire body; he gave the areas covered by her underwear a wide berth. Still, it was shaming to be scrubbed like some dirty little urchin, and the soap was strong enough to make her skin smart.

"And now for the pumice," he told her cheerfully.

"But Sakamaki-san, I'm not sure I need – "

" _I_ will tell you what you need. Left arm."

"Ouch!"

"Stop whingeing, girl. It's a little dead skin. Right arm."

"Ow!"

"My, my. How very sensitive. Next is your knees… do take your hands away from your mouth, it can't possibly be that bad."

Kneeling up, he shuffled a little further down the bath and lifted one of her feet above the water. With a barely-concealed look of pleasure, he set to work on her heel.

"Reiji-san! I won't be able to walk!"

"You'll walk if I tell you to walk. Give me your other foot, now. Don't be difficult."

Yui gasped and winced through another scraping with the pumice. The skin on her heels throbbed, hot and aching in the cooling bath. Finally he let go of her foot, and turned his attention to her vinegar-soaked hair.

"We'll use my shampoo," he told her. "It's my own preparation. You'll find it much more effective than the rubbish you're accustomed to using." She could hardly refuse. Fortunately, the fragrance wasn't too bad, if a little more masculine than she might have chosen; it was woody and slightly spicy, with a mineral tang, and mercifully eradicated the reek of the vinegar.

Having rinsed off the last of the sweet-scented lather, he pulled out the plug and let the gritty, soap-clouded bath-water drain away. "Please, Reiji-san, may I get out now?" she begged.

"Not quite yet," he told her. "I shall want you on your feet again for this last step."

Unhappily, Yui tottered to her feet. Her heels were sore when she put her weight on them. Walking would indeed be unpleasant, though perhaps not unbearably so. Reiji took the largest pot out of the basket and began to swirl the murky contents with his fingers. She eyed it suspiciously.

"What is that?" "This? Just a salt scrub. Sea-salt crystals and oil. I'm sure you've used one before."

"But you've already – " She was cut off with a gasp as he placed a palmful of the gritty substance on the back of her neck and began to massage it into the skin. Ordinarily it might have been pleasantly stimulating, but the sensation of the rough salt crystals against her raw skin was almost painful. Where the skin was broken, it stung. The places where he'd last bitten her burned, and she couldn't help yelping a little as the harsh salt was rubbed into them. His hands left her as he took up more of the salt scrub, and began to rub it into her shoulders and back. She managed to suffer through a scrubbing of her underarms without protest, but when his fingers slipped below the fabric of her bra she flinched and tried to pull away.

"Miss Komori, do not try my patience," he told her. "This is for your own good." She froze, stiff with fear and shame, and let him continue.

To her relief, he only applied the scrub around the base of her breasts and her cleavage. He massaged the grainy paste over her back and belly, working lower; her stomach flipped as she realized that he would soon reach her panties, and the part of her they covered. He turned her so that her back was to him. "Lean forward a little. That's right." She obeyed. At the same time she pressed her legs tightly together, so tightly they began to shake. Unconsciously, she began to pray. Reiji's fingers dug below the high, sensible waistband and skimmed the curve of her small buttocks; they dipped briefly into the cleft between her cheeks, but didn't linger.

"Very good. Turn around. Face me." Slowly, she did as he told her, folding her arms against herself. "Move your feet apart." His voice was soft in her ear.

"Reiji-san, I – "

"Now, please."

She shifted her feet apart, just a little.

"More." His hand reached down, clasping around her knee to move her leg like the leg of a doll. She let him, but didn't assist him.

"Komori-san. Look at me." His hand clasped her chin and lifted her face. She opened her eyes a crack, somehow terrified to see his face. Something about his tone was making the hair on the back of her neck stand up. His gaze was hard and unreadable; it chilled her. He seemed to be lost in thought, his hand resting against the side of her face.

She felt something cold and wet against her neck. Looking down, she saw that his sleeve had come unrolled; it was hanging away from his arm, and there was something red on the cuff. "Your sleeve," she said faintly.

"Yes… it seems you have contrived to soil my shirt," he said. "No matter… I don't think I'll be needing it now." She watched in confusion as he shrugged off the wet garment. His whole tone and demeanour had changed so suddenly; what was he doing? Where had the blood come from?

"Reiji… san?"

Reiji's lips were curving into one of his dreadful smirks: knowing, gleeful, and barely sane. His cold fingers traced the curve of her neck, making her flinch back as they touched the wounds. "Hah!" she gasped. They must have broken open again; Reiji's hand came away bloody. Her eyes widened with fear as she watched him lick the red stains away. She put her hand over the wound as if she could hide it from him.

"I hadn't intended… but this is a punishment, isn't it..? You were the one who awakened me…" He was whispering, talking to himself.

"No… oh no…" It was the smell of the blood. It was affecting him. Frantically, Yui reached behind her and turned on the shower again. Maybe the water would get rid of the smell, allow him to regain control? But he only laughed.

His hands closed around her shoulders. He leant in, tongue lapping around her fingers to get at the blood. "Reiji-san, don't do this! Please! Please don't – "

He pulled back and glared down at her. "Quiet! You'll do as you're told, _human._ " Reiji tugged her hand away from her neck and jerked it up behind her back, twisting it painfully. He leant in once more, and ran cold lips along the reddened, hyper-sensitive skin of her shoulder to the base of her neck. He pulled her closer; a harsh hiss, almost like an angry cat, escaped from his throat as he bit down.

Yui tried to stifle her scream, but failed. The pain, the fear; the way he'd been touching her; and now this new, horrible proximity – he shirtless, she almost naked – her free hand was raining down futile punches on his arm and shoulder, and she was babbling almost incoherently: "nononopleasestoppleasestopno…"

But it was happening, the thing she'd dreaded most. Not the pain, not the burning agony of the vampire's bite, not the awful feeling of having her life stolen, sip by sip, but that horrid pleasure he could somehow inflict: a hot, unnatural thrill that seemed to thread through every vein until it consumed her entire body. Her fist uncurled and she clutched at him, clutched at his shoulder for support, murmuring his name. Her legs began to give way.

Bringing his mouth away, he lowered her into the empty bath and stood up. For a spell, he looked around almost confusedly, as if he'd forgotten where he was and what he'd been doing. He looked down at the girl in the tub, at the tendrils of blood washing down over her breasts in the weak spray from the shower.

"Now… where was I?" he whispered. Almost dreamily, his eyes fell on the pot of salt scrub on the edge of the bath. "Ah, yes…" Ignoring the water soaking his trousers, he climbed into the tub with her. His free arm drew Yui to his chest, while the other strayed to scoop up another fingerful of the paste. He buried his face in her neck once more, while his hand began to rub the harsh substance into the soft skin at the top of her thighs.

Yui felt hot, liquid. Molten. She seemed to be hanging in space, in a void of pain and bliss. She could no longer distinguish one part of her body from another; she did not know limb from limb. Even the distinction between her own body and Reiji's was impossible to make with any certainty. When his mouth came up to claim hers, she let him; she moaned into his kiss as he bit down on her lip and began to draw the blood from her mouth to his. Her arms were around his neck, clinging as if she might fall to her death; the nails of his right hand were burying themselves in her back, while his other hand was at work between her legs.

Reiji chucked darkly as he slipped a portion of the salt scrub beneath her panties. The rough salt crystals would provide more than enough friction for what he had in mind. He ran his fingers over the fabric covering her opening, feeling the crystals rubbing against the skin beneath; but did not pull the cloth aside. It was enough to feel her press against his fingers, his palm, her body helpless with pleasure; to feel as well as hear her little cries as he kissed her and drained her at the same time.

Anger spent and thirst somewhat quenched, he was slowly regaining his wits as Yui was losing herself. Reluctantly, Reiji broke the bloody kiss and moved his hand to cradle the girl in both his arms as the aftershocks wracked her. Her blood… it was _wonderful…_ and the body he took such pleasure in slighting was one he desired intensely. But he'd already done more than he intended, and to take things any further would have been… improper. Reiji wanted their first time together to be perfect. He shut off the water and set her down while he went to find a towel.

Wrapping her up in the thick bath sheet, he carried the girl - _his_ girl - into her bedroom and laid her on the bed. Her underclothes were still wet, but it might distress her unduly to wake up and find he'd removed them; he contented himself with putting her in her dressing-gown and covering her with the comforter. His last intimacy was to lick the cuts he'd made to her lip. Still semi-conscious, she gave a soft whine and lifted her her head, trying to chase his mouth with hers as he pulled away.

"No more, little one, no more," he told her. "If I kiss you again, I'm not sure I could stop myself from stealing your innocence. And I want to save that for the proper time."

Knowing she couldn't really hear him, Reiji took the opportunity to whisper: "Sleep well… _Yui._ "


End file.
